Martinsburg gazette. (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1886-1887, 1887-03-04


st'All right fore and aft, sir came
Thompson's voice, and his dusky form
doomed ont Of the shadow.
What order did the Captain give
just before you came up1' asked Not
that / for q moment thought that it Was
his voice which / had heard, but /
wanted to see if the boatswain's mate
had noticed anything.
Order, sir ( Why the cap'en be
turned in
But did not you hear some one say
astop the ship, just as you got to the
ladder footg
NO, sir, that III take my davy
VERY well, you may 60, but mind
you keep sharp lookout
.Ay, az, sirn' and the man moved
away.
\ 4 felt inclined to laugh at myself for
an old woman, when chilly feeling
crept once more upon me, and something
within me this time earnestly said
Stop the ship!n
III shook the feeling Of, however, and
determined to give way no longer to
morbid fancies, lighted a pipe, and be-
gan to pace brislSly to and fro, from port
to starboard and starboard to port But,
though all traces Of fear and terror van
ished, yet ever those words came ring
ing in my ear, and the faster I walked
the more plainly heard
Stop the shipl Stop the Ship
again / hailed the watch: All
right forward2 Can you see ANYTHING
ahead and peered out into the dark
ness round.
All clear forard, but we cant see
more than ten yards, sang out Thomp-
son, snllcniy.
$50 once more began my measured
tramp, but louder and louder came the
command in tones of frantic entrsntY
stop the shipl Stop the ship!'
1t was no use striving longer; felt
some potent influence force me to the en-
gine-room telegraph. / seized ths han
die, and for moment paused as
thought of the confusion and alarm
which | was about to cause, and how an
CRY the sleeping captain would be at my
daring to do such thing without his
orders. The next instant / rang: Easy
ahead. fe't tie engines throb more
slowly. Yet again heard, almost mad
ly
n 81 Stop the ship
And without . moments further hest
tation Iraug Stop, and soon the throb-
bing ceased entirely. / heard exclama-
tons Of surprise from the fok'sel. There
was q rare commot.on on the deck as the
captain rushed up the ladder in anxious
haste, but before he could veach my side,
the resistless power had overcome me
again, and rang down 'sF.ull speed
astcrn.n
= In heavens name, what's the mat.
ter, Brown heard the astonishcd cap
tain say as the mighty screw began to
race astcrn, and forcibly pull up, as it
were, the great ship, which still forged
gently ahead.
Before could answer, or even glanc,
around, loud shout from tho lookout
on the bows An iceberg right on ns!'
was followed by slight shock and
culver and rattle as We ran stem on to
the towering monster. What our fate
would have been had we been stcaming
at full speed, you may guess; instead Of
carrying you home to- night, the old Sar-
dinian would be lying fathoms deep.
and her loss would have added one more
to the mysteries of the sea. y
There wasa dead silence as the speaker
ended. and we pulled our pipes thought
fully for a few moments, until he
added
That is queer yarn, know, and if
you can explain it, 50 much the better.
1 have often tried to do so to myself,
but cannot. believe some unseen spirit
was sent tosave those helpless souls that
night, in spite Of all the clever reasons
which scientific men find for the exist
cnce Of such things. and I know that